Shelf Picker Showing 651-700 of 1,548

[Luann]

Thanks, Dee!! Too exciting! I hope it will be something good, too! I never thought I would be the shelf picker again, so I haven't even thought about it. I'll look over the shelves and post my pick soon!

[Luann]

Well, here it is! The pick for November! (Which is also my birthday month!)

So, I immediately thought of children's books. Being a children's librarian they are one of my top favorites types of books - and there are TONS of shelves to choose from. But I thought you all would rather have something a little more grown-up, so I wasn't going to go that way. I passed by several children's-type shelves and picture-books (which I thought would be fun!), and I was about to settle on "suspense" when I saw childhood! And I couldn't resist! :) So, that's my pick.

This is your chance to read that classic children's book you never got around to, or to reread a favorite book from your childhood! The shelf has both chapter books and picture books, old favorites and newer things as well. It stretches all the way from Dr. Seuss books and Goodnight Moon to The Fellowship of the Ring and even Gone With the Wind. And of course Harry Potter is there in spades - and for once he even belongs there! So hopefully everyone can find something they would like to read and enjoy reminiscing a bit about favorite books from their childhood.

[LynnB]

Luann wrote: "Well, here it is! The pick for November! (Which is also my birthday month!) So, I immediately thought of children's books. Being a children's librarian they are one of my top favorites types of b..."

This one sounds like fun! I see a few already that I would like to re-read and some I've wanted to read, but haven't gotten around to reading yet.

[Dee]

ohhh, this'll be fun! I def. saw quite a few on the first page alone that I either want to re-read or read for the first time

[Krait]

OK, I think this is a great group, however the bias seems to be a little strong. How did Luann get a pick when she has no review for last month? Don't the guidelines state that the picker must have posted a review? From the thread "How to...":

Their choice of [sic] will be limited to those members who have read & posted their reviews in the monthly book discussion. Please be considerate in your choice and if possible choose a member who has not been chosen previously so as many people can have a turn on the shelf picking.

That seems to limit the choice to (if possible) myself, Susan, and Sarah.

I'd vote for Susan as she posted three reviews to my one...

[Dee]

we do it the month prior to this month - so I picked from the reviews for September - that was how I understood it to be - since it is still only halfway through the month

[Susan]

Dee wrote: "we do it the month prior to this month - so I picked from the reviews for September - that was how I understood it to be - since it is still only halfway through the month"

You did it right, Dee. That way, there's still time for other people to post October reviews and join Krait, Sarah, and me (and I also see Arlene and Lahni on the list so far) in the running to be chosen for the next time around.

And, as in the quote Krait posted, preference is supposed to be given to anyone who hasn't chosen previously. That's an intentional way to work against the bias of picking people we already know.
In my case, it definitely worked out -- I became a shelf picker only my 3rd or 4th month in the group last year. But sometimes, when everyone who's posted in a particular month has already been a picker, there's no way to do that.

btw, there's a list of previous pickers in the first post on the "Shelf List" thread, in case anyone wants to check it out.

[Dee]

I took anyone off the list who had picked in the last 2 years when I came up with it - and since the picker hadn't picked since Jan 09 - I figure that's ok...I think I ended up with a list of 8 ppl to choose from/ numbered them and had a co-worker pick a number for me

[Slayermel]

Dee you did exactly what you are supposed to do, and it is the luck of the draw I waited 3 years before being picked and I've been here since the beginning.

Susan thank you for drawing attention to the list of previous shelf pickers it is important that people know where it is.
Also just a reminder to all that yes you pick names from the previous month then the one we are currently reading for ex.
The pick for Nov would come from the sept pool as October is still currently active. This is to allow the opportunity for all members to finish their books for that month and post them.

[Lahni]

Luann- I'm excited for this shelf choice! I'm gonna go check it out now!

[Candiss]

Congratulations, Luann! I've found a late-childhood favorite of mine on the list that I've been meaning to re-visit (30 years later? Ack!) and found a copy of last year for my collection. It even fits a task in one of my ongoing challenges!

[Krait]

Thanks for the comments regarding the selection of the picker. How could we make that more clear in the "How to..." thread so that others don't make the same mistake I did?

[Susan]

Krait wrote: "Thanks for the comments regarding the selection of the picker. How could we make that more clear in the "How to..." thread so that others don't make the same mistake I did?"

Maybe just this one sentence?

as it is now:
"Their choice of will be limited to those members who have read & posted their reviews in the monthly book discussion."

possible change:
"Their choice will be limited to those members who read & posted their reviews in the monthly book discussion for the last completed month (e.g., to pick in March for April, look at February's reviews)."

I'm sure Kazza can neaten up the language, but something like that should do it.

[Tien]

Thanks for all the work (dicussing rules etc) so that I'd only have to amend the wording ;)

Please do keep in mind the rule was written in the first days of the group back in 2008 and as you can see, it's always a work in progress for further clarification. Again, thanks for helping out :)

[Luann]

When I message the person choosing the Shelf Picker, I make sure they know to choose from the previous month. But I think it's a good idea to have that information in the rules as well so everyone knows. It was discussed way back when, but it's easy to forget that people who join as we go along don't always read all the previous discussions.

And, just for the record, I DO have a review to post for this month. Not that it matters for shelf picker, but I just wanted to mention it. :) I finished the book late last night and will post soon. :)

[Sarah]

Oh so many fantastic books to choose from this month, I'm spoilt for choice! I'm torn between reading some childhood classics I missed or pulling out my collection of Goosebump books from my own childhood and working my way through the lot :)
Maybe I'll do a bit of both

[Slayermel]

OMG.....Goosebumps I totally forgot about those ;o)

[Dee]

i'm feeling the Little House on the Prairie series

[Parsa]

There is so much to explore in this genre for me! :D

[Luann]

The month is just over half over, but with Thanksgiving next week and lots of people traveling, visiting family, etc., I thought I would pick our next Shelf Picker now. December's Shelf Picker will be ..... Amy!

I PM'd her and now we must await her pick!

[Lahni]

Can't wait to see what you pick, Amy!

[Parsa]

Congrats Amy :)

[Slayermel]

Yay Amy!!!

[Amy]

I am so excited! Thanks for picking me, Luann!

With the ROAR coming to a close, I'm hoping that my selection will help the participants finish up some of their tasks.

No matter how many shelves I read from, I always seem to gravitate to my favorite which is

Suspense

Here's hoping you'll all enjoy curling up with a good mystery (or 5) to end the year.

[Lahni]

Great pick! I love a good suspenseful book!

[LynnB]

A favorite category for me! Thanks, Amy!

[Candiss]

Great pick for a cold winter night's read, Amy!

I love that it's one of those shelves that describes a tone or quality, not really a genre...so you have classics, mystery, crime, horror, SF, litfic, historical fiction, and so many others shelved there, but the books all have a suspenseful tone. I love having so many options to pick from!

[Dee]

ohhh good choice - I know at least 3 books I want to try for, maybe 4 to get caught up on 1 trilogy, start a new one and finish up some challenge books

[Luann]

Yay! Great pick, Amy!!

[Bea]

Amy, any chance you could add the "suspense" link to Post #1 in the "What will you read...December" thread? IT would be helpful for repeated trips to the list of books.

[Amy]

Bea wrote: "Amy, any chance you could add the "suspense" link to Post #1 in the "What will you read...December" thread? IT would be helpful for repeated trips to the list of books."

Slayermel made the original post in that thread, Bea, and the suspense link is there (the word "suspense" is a clickable link). Hope this helps.

[Amy]

I have chosen the shelf picker for January and have already sent a message to let her know. Congratulations to Sarah, our first shelf picker of 2012!

[LynnB]

Congrats, Sarah! Can't wait to see what you pick!

[Candiss]

Congratulation, Sarah! Have fun picking!

[Sarah]

Ahhh what a surprise! I was quite sure I wouldn't get a go so now I'm completely unprepared. I'll try to go through the shelves and pick something interesting over the next day or so. :)

[Luann]

Yay! Congrats, Sarah!

[Slayermel]

Yay Sarah!

[Sarah]

Ok, so after much debate with myself and trawling through pages of shelves, I think I've managed to come to a decision.

I was very tempted to go with Steampunk, but to widen the reading options available so there's a bit more a mix for everyone's tastes I've gone with:

Speculative Fiction

Hope everyone can find something to tickle their fancy :)

[Dee]

well, that seals that...the 2 books I was considering reading that are SF...going to wait until January

[LynnB]

Not a category I read much of, so it's going to be stretching time! Off to the shelf to figure out what to read....

[Susan]

Sarah wrote: "Ok, so after much debate with myself and trawling through pages of shelves, I think I've managed to come to a decision.
I was very tempted to go with Steampunk, but to widen the reading options available so there's a bit more a mix for everyone's tastes I've gone with: Speculative Fiction "

Awesome choice, Sara! I've actually looked at that shelf in the past and thought what a good shelf it would be.

[Amy]

Great shelf! I see some choices from my to-read shelf, which is an added bonus.

[Serenity]

my fave genre! :D

[Parsa]

Nice selection Sarah :)

[Bea]

I had no idea what Speculative Fiction was or that I had read some books from it until I looked at the list!

There is one thing that worries me a bit about the list. I noticed that many of the books on the first page or so have only one person shelving them as speculative fiction. For some books, that might mean that "speculative fiction" might not be on the first page or two of shelves. Can we still read those books because they are on the list?

What shelf does Harry Potter NOT appear on? (Trivia question of the day) LOL

[Dee]

Bea - that's interesting, I just looked at The Handmaid's Tale - on the list it says only 1 person shelved it as such...but if you go to the expanded shelf list from the book page, it says 116 people did

[Candiss]

Considering that my favorite genres are science fiction, some fantasy, magical realism, and some horror, "speculative fiction" is pretty much my favorite shelf, and half the books I'll be reading anyway are on it. So this is an easy one for me, as well as a great way to start the year. (I've learned that whenever one of my pet shelves gets picked, that usually means that next month's shelf will be a real comfort-zone stretcher for me - which is good and welcomed, too!)

[Bea]

Dee wrote: "Bea - that's interesting, I just looked at The Handmaid's Tale - on the list it says only 1 person shelved it as such...but if you go to the expanded shelf list from the book page, it ..."

Dee, I just looked up the two that I think I will read and found you are right. That at least reassures me for those books.

[Dee]

it is weird though...lol!

[Susan]

Bea wrote: "There is one thing that worries me a bit about the list. I noticed that many of the books on the first page or so have only one person shelving them as speculative fiction. For some books, that might mean that "speculative fiction" might not be on the first page or two of shelves. Can we still read those books because they are on the list?"

Needing to be on the first two pages has never been relevant for counting for the shelf-of-the-month. The only thing it mattered for was if we wanted to get points for it being on the shelves listed in the first task of the ROAR challenge. Easy to get them confused, since we've been doing the challenge for an entire year!